SCs put up house for sale boards in protest in UP village

Several SC residents of Sapaha village in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar district allegedly put up 'for sale' signs on their houses on Monday, alleging village head Mahfooz Khan was trying to build a water tank in the land belonging to them.

Kushinagar:Chaos erupted in Sapaha village in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar district following 'house for sale' posters allegedly appearing on 20 houses belonging to members of the Scheduled Caste community on Monday. Investigation into the same has been kicked off by the police, after villagers blamed the village head, Mahfooz Khan, for fuelling the incident.

The matter came to fore after visuals containing the posters went viral on Monday. "This house is for sale. We, the Hindu population, are forced to leave the village owing to the conspiracy and torture meted out by village head Mahfooz Khan of Sapaha under Ramkola police station" the note read. Subsequently, police reached the village, with residents alleging Khan deliberately passed the proposal for setting up a water tank on the land inhabited by the SC families.

"The incident is being probed, and will be resolved after talking to both parties. The police will deal strictly with those trying to spoil the atmosphere" Kushinagar ASP Ritesh Kumar Singh said.

Khan, meanwhile, refuted all allegations. "Construction of a water tank has been approved. The land for construction had been marked previously. About 20 days ago, the Tehsil administration had removed the encroachment from the marked area. The current issue is being created to give a political colour to the matter" he said.